The present invention relates generally to insulated hand grips for cooking utensil handles and more particularly to replaceable hand grips made of a resilient rubber-like material of low thermal conductivity which may be easily placed and removed about closed loop utensil handles. In particular the present invention relates to heat insulated covers especially suited to utensil lid handles of the type formed as relatively thin wide metal strap spot-welded near opposed ends of the strap to a utensil lid or cover.
The problem of inadvertently grasping the hot handle of hot pans and other cooking utensils has been with us for nearly as long as the art of cooking itself. In the domestic cooking environment where the use of cooking vessels is relatively infrequent and not for extended periods of time, the use of a common hot pad or oven mitt is a commonly employed solution, as is the forming of handles on the cooking vessels with a molded plastic or wooden grip portion which grip portion is either molded or riveted to the handle with the handle in turn being permanently welded or riveted to the vessel in question. Such fixed insulated grips are sometimes adequate for domestic cooking purposes but are frequently not adequate in the case of commercial cookware where frequent and prolonged use, as well as washing as high temperatures to sterilize the utensil, may cause the wooden or plastic handle to deteriorate rapidly and fail long before the remaining portion of the utensil is worn out. For this reason, commercial cookware is generally provided with a simple metal handle which is either riveted or welded to the main portion of the vessel.
For handles of the simple elongated variety, a satisfactory removable insulated handle is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,611 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. For closed loop handles provided in pairs on opposed side walls of larger cooking vessels, for example of the stockpot variety, a satisfactory removable insulated handle is illustrated in my copending application Ser. No. 199,575, filed Oct. 22, 1980. Several of the embodiments illustrated in this copending application are also suitable for lids of larger commercial cookware, but may however be more complex to manufacture, as well as being more complicated to install and remove than is optimumly desirable.